Pages

Monday, 5 January 2015

Well, here we are in 2015 and the first thing Hamish and I would like to do is wish all our readers and contributors a very happy, peaceful and productive year. Sadly, though, Hamish and I must begin the year by communicating some bad news. We are afraid that, in the course of the holiday period, Martin withdrew his offer to resume editorship of Poetry24.

We have to say right off that we do not blame him at all. We know only too well how keeping the site going can eat into one's time and we know, too, that Martin has many projects and interests, not to mention a beautiful family which he more than deserves the time and leisure to enjoy. I must be honest about one thing, though: when I first heard the news of Martin's change of heart, I did postpone this announcement for a few days while I considered whether I could keep things going, even for a month or two, while we waited for someone to come forward. Eventually, I decided against this, however; the fact is that I, too, have a couple of projects which I am keen to get on with. Also, I have to take into account the fact that we have already made two appeals and no one has come forward so perhaps it is time for Poetry24 to come to an end.

Martin agrees with us that, for the time being at least, we should leave the site up as an archive of material. Therefore, if you are a contributor and you would like your work taken down, please contact Hamish or I as soon as possible. We we would all of us, Hamish and I and Martin and Clare, like to thank our loyal and very wonderful poets and readers for their support. For myself, I hope that some of you will stay in touch. Again, for the time being, Poetry24 will continue to have a Facebook page, as, indeed, I have myself. It would be good to hear from some of you via one or other of those pages. We wish you all the very best.

“ [ . . .] it could well have been one of the butterflies collected by Henri Charriere, on whose life “Papillon” was based. Today, pollution and urbanization resulting from extensive oil drilling in the area has degraded much of this butterfly’s original range. Because the species has not been collected in over 50 years, it is very possible that it is now extinct.”-- 100 Years – 100 Objects: Diana Blue Morpho by Nancy [Greig] , blog.hmns.org, The Houston Museum of Natural Science, April 27, 2009

“40 Years Later, the Cruelty of Papillon is a Reality in U.S. Prisons” [ . . . . ] “In New Mexico last week, for example, a 73-year-old grandmother sued state officials after she was placed in solitary confinement for five weeks without proper medication.” -- Andrew Cohen, theatlantic.com, Dec. 16, 2013

Union Carbide has paid an amount of $470 million U.S. dollars with an average compensation per person for 500,000 victims of 500 U.S. dollars each. Not a single person has been held criminally liable for an act that left 20,000 people dead and 150,000 maimed for life. -- Raghu Rai, magnumphotos.com, Portfolio - INDIA. 2001. Bhopal Gas Tragedy

“One of the eight suppliers of organic potatoes – located in a radius up to 250 km – is the prison Satakunnan vankila, [Finland], where around 100 inmates are incarcerated. They are given various activities, and one of them is cultivating the institution’s own land. They farm 215 ha organically, [ . . .]” -- Kai Kreuzer, “Finnish manufacturer supplies ten countries with organic starch,” organic-market.info/web/Europe/Finland, June 9, 2013

Scott Starbuck was a 2014 Friends of William Stafford Scholar at the "Speak Truth to Power" FOR Seabeck Conference. His "Manifesto from Poet on a Dying Planet" is at splitrockreview.org/news

Tuesday, 23 December 2014

And still we live…Despite the years, despite the days,Wars, famine and the likeWe never restWe always striveIf we’re not busy dying,We’re busy being aliveAnd now it’s ChristmasWhich always tells a taleof the year gone by:No one remains staticIt’s a time to cheer or cryas we measure our status in numbers:The number of cards (received and sent)The number of presents (received and sent)Of invitations to visit (received and sent)The number at Christmas dinner:Is it more or is it less?Thomas Martin

Indian born Usha Kishore is a British poet, writer and translator, resident on the Isle of Man, where she teaches English at Queen Elizabeth II High School. Usha is internationally published and anthologised by Macmillan, Hodder Wayland, Oxford University Press (all UK) and Harper Collins India. Her poetry has won prizes in UK Poetry competitions, has been part of international projects and features in the British Primary and Indian Middle School syllabus. The winner of an Arts Council Award and a Culture Vannin Award, Usha’s debut collection On Manannan’s Isle has been published in January 2014 bydpdotcom, UK. Forthcoming are a book of translations from the Sanskrit, Translations of the Divine Woman from Rasala Books India and a second collection of poetry, Night Sky Between the Stars from Cyberwit India. Usha is now working on her first novel.